“Where real estate meets real life” is the motto of Jillian Owens’ “The Inner Circle” podcast. Each episode discusses real estate, money, credit and entrepreneurship, blending expert insights with relatable stories. The podcast offers valuable tips to property buyers, sellers and investors.

Owens is Inner Circle Real Estate Group’s owner and designated managing broker. The group specializes in first-time homebuyers, as well as investor-focused real estate and fix-and-flips in Chicago and the southern, southwestern and western suburbs, including Aurora, Bolingbrook, Homewood, Maywood, Plainfield and South Holland. Owens earned her real estate license in 2018 after transitioning from a career as an instructor and dean of advising at a university.

Owens needed a career change. “I realized that I could leverage the experience I had in helping people be successful in college and graduate and use that to help homebuyers through the homebuying process,” she explains. “Homebuyers are very similar to college students in that they need a trusted advocate and advisor to help them.”

After earning her real estate license, Owens began investing in real estate, enabling her to help buyers and sellers with design and renovation plans for their homes. This experience also allowed her to add project management for real estate development to her list of services.

Owens has had a high rate of repeat and referral customers, and many previous clients have purchased a second property for investment purposes. “I’m here to help people use real estate to build generational wealth,” she says.

Owens serves on the Professional Standards Committee for Mainstreet Realtors and is the founding board president for Opportunity 1st, a nonprofit that helps low-income youth overcome barriers to education and employment. This year, her goal is to expand her license coverage to Dallas, Texas.